Cardiac stress test

CARDIAC STRESS TEST

- So, you’re scheduled for a stress test, huh?
It’s not a written test, so you don’t have to study, but here are some
things you should know. This test is designed to: help your
Doctor determine if your chest pain is coming from your heart not
getting enough blood supply, to evaluate your exercise capacity, to
test the effectiveness of your medical therapy, to see if you may
have any exercise induced electrical problems with your heart or to
follow-up on previous stent, angioplasty or bypass procedures
prior to cardiac rehabilitation.
- How should you prepare for the test?
First of all, wear something that you can exercise comfortably in.
This may mean shorts, a T-shirt, loose fitting pants, and most
importantly, jogging or tennis shoes. Ladies should wear a
comfortable brassiere. If your test is scheduled in the morning,
don't eat breakfast (diabetics may need to decrease their morning
diabetes medication), if scheduled in the afternoon, eat a light
breakfast and skip lunch. Take all of your regularly scheduled
medications except those listed on the other side of this paper.
- What about the medications I shouldn’t take?
The medications in this list will prevent your heart rate from going
high enough to make the test accurate and you may have an
incomplete test or need to repeat it later. In some cases, your
Doctor may ask you to take these medications regardless, because
he is testing the effectiveness of that medication to control your
symptoms. If you have any question about your specific
medication, ask your Doctor. In any event, bring the
medication(s) that you didn’t take with you, so that you can
take them after the stress test.
IF YOU ARE ON ANY OF THE MEDICATIONS LISTED
BELOW, DO NOT TAKE THEM ON THE MORNING OF THE
STRESS TEST UNLESS TOLD SPECIFICALLY TO DO SO BY
YOUR DOCTOR, BUT BRING THEM WITH YOU:
Digoxin, Digitalis or Lanoxin Sotalol or Betapace Atenolol or Tenormin Metoprolol or Lopressor/Toprol Nadalol or Corgard Pindolol or Visken Timolol or Blocadren Propranolol or Inderal Carteolol or Cartrol Penbutolol or Levatol Betaxolol or Kerlone Coreg or Carvedilol ***Cancellation Policy: Please be kind and considerate. Time for procedures is difficult to
schedule and other people may be waiting for availability. If you need to cancel your
procedure for any reason, please inform the office at least 24 hours before your scheduled time.
Failure to do so will result in your being charged the full amount of the procedure which your
insurance company probably will not pay for. If, due to circumstances beyond our control, we
are unable to perform your procedure as scheduled, you will be rescheduled at the earliest
availability. You will not be charged the cancellation fee under this circumstance.

Source: http://www.heartrepair.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/stresstestinstructions.pdf